in·sur·gent (n-sûrjnt)
adj.
One who acts contrary to the established leadership (as of a political party, union, or corporation) or its decisions and policies

Monday, March 20, 2006

A Beautiful Weekend In San Francisco

The City and County of San Francisco (2004 estimated population 744,230) is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and the fourteenth largest in the United States. San Francisco has many unique characteristics when compared to other major cities in the U.S., including its steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of architecture including both Victorian style houses and modern skyscrapers, and natural beauty, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.

The penitentiary was closed for good on March 21, 1963. The prison closed because it was far more expensive to operate than other prisons, and the bay was being polluted by the sewage from the approximately 250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prison families on the island. It was easier to build a new, traditional land-bound prison than to pay for all the upkeep and support the Alcatraz prison required.

In 1969, a group of American Indians from many different tribes, calling themselves Indians of All Tribes (many were relocated to the Bay Area under the federal Termination program), occupied the island, and proposed an education center, ecology center, and cultural center. During the occupation, several buildings got damaged or destroyed, including the recreation hall, Coast Guard quarters, and the Warden's home. A number of other buildings (mostly apartments) were destroyed by the U.S. Government after the occupation had ended. After 18 months of occupation, the government forced them off. But the end of Termination and the new policy of self-determination were established in 1970 as a direct result of the occupation. Today American Indian groups, for example the International Indian Treaty Council, hold ceremonies on the island. Most notable is Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day when they hold a "Sunrise Gathering".

Can you imagine being caged in here?

One of the peep holes in Alcatraz so the inmates would know exactly what they were missing.

San Francisco must be the world's most liberal and politically-conscious city. There were protests around town on Saturday, which remarkably got coverage in the local media.

The Golden Gate Bridge, completed after more than four years of construction at a cost of $35 million, opened to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937 at twelve o'clock noon, ahead of schedule and under budget, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House announcing the event.

Lombard Street is best known for one block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or switchbacks) that have earned the street the distinction of being "the crookedest [most winding] street in the United States." (Vermont St. between 20th St and 22nd St near the San Francisco General Hospital disputes that claim) The Powell-Hyde cable car line stops at the top of this block.

The switchback design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry and instituted in 1922, was born out of necessity in order to reduce the hill's natural 27° slope which was too steep for most vehicles to climb and a serious hazard to pedestrians used to a more reasonable sixteen-degree incline.

A related SF perspective for you. My grandfather on my Mother's side of the family, worked for the FAA (Federal Aeronautics Administration in the 1930's. The family lived in Oakland at the time. One of my grandfathers jobs was to illuminate the floating landing strip for Clippers that landed in San Francisco Bay. The illumination was provided by floating lanterns. My Mother used to join my grandfather from time to time after school when he would head out at dusk to light the lanterns. She could see the progress of the Golden Gate as it was being built. She was 11 years old when the bridge was finished.

A side note. My grandfather was born in Sweden, and at the age of 15, left home and joined the merchant marine. He sailed the seas for 10 years, learning 6+ languages in his travels. He decided to settle down in the United States. In 1916 he joined the U.S. Army, in Artillery, and fought in WWI. When the war was over he was stationed in Ft. Still, Oklahoma, and in 1919, he met my Grandmother in Oklahoma. They met on a Monday, and got married the Friday of the same week, and were married for 50 years, before he passed away from a heart attack in 1969.

The boat he used to light the lanterns on San Francisco Bay, he built himself, by hand. According to my Mother, there was not a single nail, or screw in the hull of that boat. He named the boat, "The Porgi", after my Mother. Her name is Georgia, and her nickname was "Georgie Porgi".

SF, is expensive, but I have found that relatively inexpensive lodging, and food can be found. However, you are correct, you can get soaked. I like to measure cities by their "walkability". When my wife and I go to the City, we typically stay near Union Square, and like to walk from there all the way down to Fishermans Wharf and back. We walk the hills to the Wharf, then back through "little Italy", or the North Beach area. A number of bakeries, and coffee shops here that are inexpensive to eat at. Also an Irish Pub, next to Club Fugazi, home of Beach Blanket Babylon has good food, and inexpensive. Beach Blanket Babylon is a must see for everyone.

Take the cable car, if you have to see lot's of spots. The walk is not that bad. The views are great, and you get to go through lot's of small neighborhoods. You pass dozens of small little restaurants that you promise yourself, you'll go to someday, but you never do. The tough part of the walk is the 10 blocks when your legs are fresh, after that, it's slightly rolling hills, or mostly downhill after that.

Another restaurant to try is Zarzuela's, a Spanish Tapa place on Hyde, I believe. This is one that I have been to a couple of times.

I like SF. It's kind of a mix between NYC and Los Angeles. I enjoy the brisk wind and the beautiful bay, which seems to present everywhere you turn. Everytime I'm in SF, I go down to the wharf and scarf down a sourdough bowl of clam chowder and crabs!!!!

SF is an amazingly liberal city. The newspapers don't even feign objectivity. It's also extremely gay--not that I have a problem with it. It's just not my cup of tea.

This is great. I love it when you write about places you've gone to. I can't travel due to a lack of "fundage," so reading about your travels, I can vicariously go where you do.

Some day, I'll do a photo essay of where I live. We have an amazing array of beautifully-kept Victorian homes, due to the presence of Marathon Oil Company and the gas boom in the late 1800s that allowed a major oil company to begin here.

Where I'm from is 2 extremes: very rich, and very poor. It doesn't take a genious to connect the dots on which camp I'm from!

We were there for two days and did all sorts of cheesy touristy things. The weather was sunny, but breezy and the people were generally nice. There were lots of homeless people everywhere though. I am a fussy eater so I don't eat odd things anywhere. We ate in Chinatown and North Beach (the Italian area) and had two of the best meals I've had in a while.

StS -

Nothing beats Brooklyn? My sis lived in Park Slope for a year and, although it was nice, nothing tops Manhattan.

Insurgent,Your last comment mentioned the large numbers of homeless people in San Francisco...which I was surprised you did not mention in the initial write-up. You did mention how politically conscious and liberal the city is, and this political base has blocked the city from passing anti-vagrancy laws that most other major cities use to empower police to keep homeless people out of sight (especially out of the sight of tourists and their money). Add the mild temperatures to the equation, and you can understand why homelessness is so prevalent in the city. It's ironic that Oakland which is considered the economically depraved neighbor to San Francisco has more dilapidated buildings and what not, but a less visible homeless population. Anyway, I actually love this aspect of San Francisco. Just when you are getting all intoxicated with the dazzle and beauty of the immense wealth that is contained in that small peninsula, a panhandler restores your sobriety and awareness of how much disparity of opportunity still exists in America.

A fellow fan of S.F.chad

"San Franciscans know we live in the most beautiful city in the world, a jewel on the edge of the Golden Gate." ~Gavin Newsom Mayor of San Francisco

"a panhandler restores your sobriety and awareness of how much disparity of opportunity still exists in America."

Interesting. I always thought of the panhandler as a result of the high availability of crack rather than due to disparities in opportunity. PS I used to hang around in the streets of SF back in the day. Many of those panhandlers are do nothing nobody crackheads who have nothing going for them except for their monthly GA cheques. I heavily despise that aspect of SF AS well as the fact that every morning for five months last year, I had to literally walk over homeless people to get to my job (past Civic Center on up to Golden Gate to the State of CA building). ARGH, for all the beauty that SF contains, it is almost balanced out by its biased media, pretentious classists, homelessness and other garbage.

In regard to Mahndisa's comments about the panhandlers of San Francisco being "do nothing nobodies": All I can say, is for you to read Mat 7:1 (Judge not that you be not judged). Do you think anyone in this world ever set out to be dependent on the state. No one strives for that life. I am blessed to live a middle class life style partially because I worked hard in school for years, but much of my fortune is because of things beyond my control. I had a stable home life with loving parents. I had interested teachers who encouraged me. I had a lot of “help” to get where I am. Perhaps you achieved everything you have through your own merit?

I was interrogated by some police officers once for a burglary that I was not part of back in high school. The detectives found a backpack with some paperwork in it with my name on it. As it turns out that bag had been stolen from my school and then left at the site of the thief’s next crime. I came very close to getting caught in the judicial system, for something I did not do, despite my straight A’s and excellent record. A 17-year old black boy’s word and record was worth nothing to those detectives. So if you think there are no disparities of opportunity in this country drawn across racial, socioeconomic, ethnic/religious, or gender lines, then I invite you to actually talk to some of those “do-nothings” the next time you are in S.F. to confirm your theory about how much they love being crack addicted and getting those assistance checks. chad

“The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.”~Mother Teresa

Chad:I am happy that you shared your personal experiences, but they were irrelevant to my statement. As I said, I used to hang out in the STREETS of SF. YES many of the homeless are drug addicted, then dual diagnosed, then there due to bad luck. Some of my homeless friends died in the struggle to get their lives together. I find your comment a bit laden with your personal history but nothing to refute my assertions. My husband analyzes data for the Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF. One of the things they noted was that there was as extremely high correlation between homelessness and HARD DRUG abuse. On one of my stints years ago, I had to enter data for about ten studies that they were doing on drug treatment efficiency. Over ninety percent of the people interviewed were homeless. There is a huge correlation between hard drug abuse and homelessness and it cannot be denied. I am not judging anyone; this is WHAT I KNOW. I know this from personal experiences hanging out. I know this from data that I have entered and my husband has analyzed, but even deeper I know it because in addition to drug use being a problem dual diagnosis with mental illness is also an issue.

Recall that Wille Brown couldn't arrest those wackjobs because it would violate their civil rights; even if they weren't coherent.

So thanks for sharing, but I disagree with you based on my experiences.

Mahndisa,I don’t disagree with how large a problem drug addiction is. My problem is in labeling the panhandlers of San Francisco as “do-nothing, nobody crackheads” You said you "despised" that aspect of San Francisco, because you had to step over them to get around in the city. They are human beings, but you regard them as hurdles serving as a nuisance on your commute to work.

My original point on this blog was that when I see the panhandlers on the streets on San Francisco, I am reminded of how blessed I am... and I need to be reminded from time to time that I could have easily wound up on the streets like those folks. Apparently, when you see panhandlers, you think of what poor choices they have made to get where they are.

In your reply, you defend your comments based on how many homeless persons are addicted to drugs. I’m not saying that homelessness and drug addiction are not correlated, because that is obvious even without your husband’s analytic work for the Institute for Health Policies Studies at UCSF. What I’m saying is that drug addiction is a disease that can happen to anybody. Sure it's a disease that you can only get if you make a poor choice, but no one is choosing to be addicted once the drug dependence has set in. Many people choose to drink alcohol, but they were not choosing to become alcoholics when they took their first drink.

I am acutely aware of the prevalence of mental illness and drug addiction in the homeless population, but that does not make them "nobodies". Everyone has value. I would be the last person to suggest that people are not ultimately responsible for the choices they make in life. I am a Christian, so I believe that we will all be judged. But some people are predisposed (through no fault of their own) to poor choices. I imagine that if I had grown up with a crack addicted prostitute for a mother in an urban slum, I might have made some poor choices too. I don't feel that I am in a position to judge unless a have really worn someone's shoes. Perhaps, you are made of a superior moral fiber, and were able to will yourself off of the streets of San Francisco, and needed no help to do so.

You clearly have strong feelings about drugs...and I am in agreement with you. I hate what drugs do to people’s lives. I have cracked open someone's chest and tried to squeeze life back into their heart only to have to walk out of the room to tell his mother that her son is gone while covered in her boy's blood...over crack. I despise crack as much as you do. However, I don't despise the victims. And they are victims. When a woman is raped, she is a victim, even if she made some poor choice that put her in a position to be raped. She is not a whore-slut, and a drug panhandler is not a do-nothing, nobody crackhead piece of worthless trash on the sidewalk that you have to step over to get to work.

Anyway, I have a lot of work to do, so I'm going to stop this correspondence (you are welcome to have the last word), but I just want to say, I would hate for the judgment that you have judged the panhandlers with to be applied to you.

A victim of good circumstance,chad

"Judge not that you be not judged. For with the same judgment that you judge you will be judged and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back unto you."~Jesus Christ (of Nazareth)

I love the smug self righteousness with which you assess my comments. I don't need to share my life story with you to justify how I feel. And frankly, my opinion still stands:

"Interesting. I always thought of the panhandler as a result of the high availability of crack rather than due to disparities in opportunity. PS I used to hang around in the streets of SF back in the day. Many of those panhandlers are do nothing nobody crackheads who have nothing going for them except for their monthly GA cheques."

And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.
And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.